Tell It Again, Please!
by Cosmic Rhythm
Summary: Because some stories simply need to be retold. Currently WIP, UlrichxOCxOdd and ultimately OddxOC, mostly following the original story lines in a mature manner.
1. Teddygodzilla

**AN: I will be portraying all characters a few years older for maturity sake. Please observe the group at roughly 17-18 y/o. Disclaiming that: I do not own Code Lyoko, nor do I upload this with the intention of being reviewed. Simply uploaded for my archives. Enjoy if you like.**

* * *

 _"I see myself as very realistic._

 _I mean, what purpose is there for fantasy and that, right?_

 _There is a fine line between fact and-"_

"Wow, what a load."

The brunette cringed and glanced nervously over her shoulder. A brunette boy greeted her nervous glance with a coy smirk of his own.

"Nice essay, Quinn. Sounds real believable." he snickered, taking the wooden library chair beside the female at her laptop. The little machine sat within a private library cubicle, empty in its structure besides the female student. The other students in the library were all spread out at other large, study tables or flitting in and out of the bookcases. Irked, the girl playfully smacked the brunette's shoulder as he sprawled his legs out in a more comfortable position.

"Shut up, Ulrich..." Quinn scoffed, huffing at her laptop with a fat pout. Ulrich chuckled wholeheartedly and sat up in his chair. He placed his hand gently on her shoulder. "I was kidding, I mean you're a lot better than me in English."

"Yeah sure." she snorted.

"Hey, are you gonna be mad about this or what?" Ulrich frowned, leaning forward in his chair. She turned her face towards him and blew a puff of air into his face-throwing his bangs up in the air. He was caught of guard, his mouth agape but quickly recovering.

"Very funny."

"Yeeeeah." She laughed, saving the file on her computer.

"So are you busy? Wanna help us decorate the gym for Prom tonight?"

Quinn made a face of disgust towards no one in particular.

"Nah...you know I don't want to get in trouble with Sissi."

Ulrich snorted, crossing his arms behind his head.

"Puh-lease. The only reason I'm actually willing to help out is because Odd, Yumi, and Jeremie will be there." He shuffled again and leaned forward slightly. "Otherwise with Sissi there, I really wouldn't give a shit."

Quinn grunted in response, closing the lid to her computer and sliding the thin machine into her backpack."True true. I don't understand why you guys are calling it Prom though...I mean...wait do you call your 'end of the year seniors dance' homecoming then?" she raised an eyebrow at him, standing from the uncomfortable library chair and tucking the wooden seat into the cubicle. The brunette joined her, standing up and following her out of the library as he held her backpack over his shoulder.

"Something like that I guess. I still say you Canadians are the really weirdos."

Quinn Verbrai was a foreign but permanent boarding student from the bountiful and wondrous great, white north that most people referred to as Canada. The 17-year-old hailing from Ontario came to board at Kadic not long ago, where she met her new friends. These friends were the very same that formed the secret Lyoko group at the Academy.

Her aunt sent her abroad soon after the accident that claimed her parents life, as the older women travelled Europe often and didn't have the time to settle down with the girl. Still, she had grown up at Kadic, and thought good would come from the girl's involvement there.

That being said, her friends sure had some weird translations compared to North American traditions.

"Heeeeeey Quinn!"

The brunette narrowly avoided a roll of streamers to the head. The roll flew over her ducked head and through the opened doorway. It landed in the foyer and rolled open slightly, leaving a small trail of purple streamer across the concrete. A high-pitched squeal drowned out Ulrich and Quinn's chuckling as the brunette nuggied Odd's spiky blonde head.

"THAT COULD HAVE HIT ME IN THE HEAD, COULD YOU NOT!?" The squealer peeked her head into the gymnasium, only to have her burning eye soften at the sight of Ulrich. "Oh...Ulrich darling...could you control your friend _please?_ "

Said brunette rolled his eyes and moved without a word, grabbing a nearby ladder and unfolding it. Nearby, Yumi entered from the storage room with a box of supplies. Her eyebrows rose when she saw the two newcomers, and she greeted them with a wave.

"Hey, did you get your essay done?"

Ulrich snorted, only silenced by Quinn's deadly glare.

"Not exactly, but I have lots of time to finish it."

"Hey Quinn! Could you give me a hand with the stage?" Odd was bundled up in streamers, making a mess with a jar of confetti. Quinn shook her head with a grin, lifting herself up onto the stage effortlessly and choreographing Odd's streamer escape.

Not long after the two finished the stage and began to set up the electrical equipment, a small voice sounded through the gym. The five occupants paused their actions and glanced over to the little, redhead 8th Grader standing in the doorway.

"U-Ulrich? Would you...would you be my date tonight…?"

Milly's bright, wide-eyed pout faced Ulrich, whose jaw slackened followed by a thick swallow.

"Uh...no offense Milly but, I'm too old for you. And I already promised to go with Yumi..." His cheeks dusted pink as he glanced away from the oriental girl. Yumi also glanced away, her cheeks tinting a light pink as well.

An awkward moment of silence later, the girl burst out the foyer doors into the courtyard. Her dark-skinned friend, who had been holding a camera over her shoulder, chased after her.

Odd glanced down towards Ulrich, who shamefully glanced down at the ground. The group soon shrugged the incident off, finishing up their decorating after effectively shooing Sissi off of the property with one of Odd's jokes.

"Welp, I better go home and get ready for the prom. The life of a day student, huh?" Yumi stretched her arms over her head, sliding the last box into the storage room with her foot.

Jeremie chuckled, followed by Ulrich who responded to her as they locked the gym behind them. "At least you don't have to be up at 6am, and you have a better chance of having hot water."

"AND you don't have to sleep next to smelly Odd." Quinn piped up, grinning cheekily at said boy, who waved it off.

"I have a foot problem, big deal."

"Don't even, you snore too." Ulrich groaned. Odd shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. "Yeah no, I don't do that!"

"Let's quit the fighting guys, I'm sure Yumi has better thing to do then listen to you guys." Jeremie chuckled, and waved the girl off as she moved to leave the property. The other waved as well, smiling as they continued their path back to the dorm.

"Are we gonna play some more Zombies tonight after the dance?" Odd nudged Quinn with his elbow, wiggling his eyebrows at her. She nodded, subconsciously chewing softly on her lip. Jeremie shook his head.

"How many times have you stayed in the boys dorm after curfew?"

"Honestly? Too many times to count. Jim doesn't think of me as that much of a delinquent." She replied with a shrug. Ulrich smirked at their conversation as Jeremie fished into his pocket for his keys. Finally finding them, he gently opened the door as his group followed.

Immediately, the blonde plopped into his chair and swivelled around to launch connection to Lyoko. He raised the headset to his ear and attached the rest to his head, while his friends lounged in spots around the room that they found comfortable.

"Y'know Ulrich, you made a mistake-not asking Quinn to prom!" Odd purred in amusement, smirking at Quinn's deep blush. She glanced away from their glance as he continued. "You'll just have to watch me sweep her off her feet."

Ulrich lowered his gaze, his cheeks a dark crimson as he growled at his roommate. "Shut up Odd. At least I asked someone."

The blonde rose a finger to him, closed-eyed smirk still present. "But I did! As soon as you asked Yumi, I asked Quinn! It was a genuine yes, my friend."

Ulrich opened his mouth to argue back at him, an annoyed expression on his red face, but was quickly interrupted by Jeremie.

"If you guys are done with the marital arguments, we have a problem!"

Odd perked up from his spot on Jeremie's bed, as Quinn stood up from the floor and Ulrich stopped his lean on the wall. Their little blushes faded quickly as the casual atmosphere changed.

Even as Ulrich's eyes darted in her direction every once in a while.

"So Aelita's feeling pulsations in the desert sector? Let's get moving then." Odd's furrowed eyebrows and curt nod signalled that he meant business, but Quinn's objection smoothed his eyebrows out with confusion.

"I need to stay behind and MC the show. Can we really afford to keep three people behind?"

They were quiet for a moment. Jeremie was the first to speak. "How about we have you as our next SOS line? You're not in front of the crowd the whole night, right?" He asked, folding his hands in his lap. She scratched the back of her neck, nodding to herself with a raised eyebrow.

"True true...alright. Well then, let's get moving." She nodded, playfully saluting Jeremie as she moved to leave the room. "Good luck, Odd." She nodded sharply at her friend, who gave her a reassuring smile. Her worried eyes couldn't hide from Odd's all-knowing orbs.

As she slipped out of the room and the door clicked shut behind her, Ulrich's head snapped towards his roommate again.

"You ASKED her?!"

"H-Hey! She's fair game!"

* * *

Quinn twirled around in her room, examining her sky blue, chiffon short dress in the long mirror that leaned against her dorm wall. Nervously biting her lip, she played with a piece of her curled hair and breathed out a nervous sigh.

It wasn't that she was concerned about her date, since he was on his way to kick butt. It wasn't even that Ulrich would be there, although that was 25% of the problem

It was the fact that she couldn't run in heels and that running in this dress would be highly unethical. Maybe she should wear dress pants…

But who was she kidding, it was mostly Ulrich and the uneasy feeling she had. Of course, he had asked Yumi to the dance and not her. Ulrich had his eye on Yumi ever since he caught sight of her, even though he had known Quinn for longer.

She glanced unhappily in her mirror, a small frown on her face as she examined her makeup subconsciously.

She didn't want to sound Sissi-like by saying it might be her appearance, but couldn't help herself.

With a sigh Quinn brushed her hair to one side.

Whatever, there was no point in pressing. Nothing would go on as long as Yumi existed and that's that.

Maybe she would meet a lovely Irish boy. She daydreamed to herself.

There was a loud chime from her cell phone, which signalled that it was time to man up and walk downstairs to the gym.

As she made her way down to the gym, her phone buzzed once more, this time signalling that she received a message.

"Ulrich: XANA possessed a giant teddy bear. It's headed for the school. Be careful."

...

How anticlimactic.

She rolled her eyes and entered the gym.

The principal immediately caught sight of her, and frantically waved for her to come up to the stage. Flustered, she hobbled her way over as she tried to compose herself. As soon as she stepped on the stage, her steps became confident.

She reached for the mic and faced her classmates as they looked to her. A deep breath, and...

"It's about time for us to be announcing our winner for Prom Queen! The competition looks tight this year, but I'd like to ask..." She glanced down at the piece of paper that the principal had passed on to her. "-Elizabeth Delmas to step forward, please."

The primped up chimpanzee glared at the brunette and huffed loudly. "It's SISSI."

Inwardly rolling her eyes, she motioned for Sissi to step forward. However, as Sissi began to step forward, a loud screech cut the air. The crowd covered their ears with their hands and winced, as a male stood up on one of the tales.

"Stop! Everyone! I need you to listen to me!"

Ulrich panted slightly, pausing to catch his breath. He glanced at Quinn for permission to continue. She bowed her head politely, giving him the knowing smile. He nodded curtly with a sideways smile.

"We are about to be attacked! By a giant teddy bear!"

There was silence, and then the whole crowd laughed. Ulrich and Quinn's expressions dropped. The brunette raised the mic back to her lips. "N-no! Please! It's true!"

Someone snatched the mic from her grasp, catching her off guard. She stepped back, sharing a confused glance with Yumi as the latter continued to catch her breath against a wall.

"No!" Sissi barked into the microphone as she threw her curls over her shoulder. "They're just stalling! They just don't want me to win! Well they called my name already so-"

It was at that moment that the ceiling began to crumble and a hole appeared through the roof. High pitched screams and shouts rose from the audience as they stood, frozen in shock at the giant teddy bear looming over them with red eyes. It's head turned, the XANA signia eyes staring into Quinn's as she remained glued to the stage.

Raising its arm caused everyone in the room to panic and make a dash for the nearest exit. However, the signia kept Quinn's heels glued to the stage, as she stared dumbfounded and frightened into XANA's orbs.

Ulrich dropped his mic to the ground as Yumi moved to make the same move as him. He shook his head at her, motioning for her to head to the bottom of the stage as he vaulted over a few tables to tackle Quinn across the stage. As the teddy bear's arm split the middle of the stage in half, the two landed in a precious heap at the edge of the extended stage. His limbs were tangled with hers, but he caught her sight and recognized from her gaze that she had gained control of her frightened body once more.

"T-Thanks Ulrich." She stuttered, breathing out shakily as they tried to untangle themselves. She shook helplessly as she regained her composure, panting heavily as her chest rose and fell. He stood quickly to shield the girl from the possessed bear as she quickly removed the shoes on her feet. Barefoot, she stood at his side as they both made a break for Yumi, who helped cushion their falls as she caught them both in momentum before they hit the ground.

As the three darted in different directions, the giant bear shifted its gaze over them.

"They better take care of this, and fast!" She huffed, keeping in stride with her friends. "Last thing I need is to step on some twig and get mucked by a teddy bear."

Yumi chuckled through baited breath, grabbing Quinn by the elbow and leading her across the street to buy some more time.

...

 **"Return to the past, now!"**

* * *

With the dejavu right on schedule, it was time for Prom once more. The Canadian glanced at herself sideways in the mirror, trying desperately not to put herself down again about the whole Ulrich thing.

She couldn't help noticing the way he bolted to save her life during the attack. Yet, she was thoroughly confused when his dark blush came through at saving her from XANA.

Quinn adjusted her strapless dress with a huff, reaching for the door when a series of knocks signalled her. That would be Odd, no doubt. This time, he was scheduled to meet her for real. When she opened the door to her dorm room, a dapper Odd stood in her doorway. He dressed to impress, in a white dress shirt, dress pants and a matching tie.

Oddly enough, there was a flicker of something in his eyes as he quickly dismissed the slacking of his lower jaw. She caught it, most definitely, but decided not to pretty any further at his undecipherable glance when he extended his forearm to her.

"M'lady?" he grinned cheekily, his torso bowed slightly. Stifling a giggle she grasped his forearm with both hands, closing the door behind her.

"What a gentleman." Quinn noted sarcastically, earning Odd's smirk.

"What a way to address the man that saved your life! I'm hurt, really!" He laughed.

She exchanged a smile with him, eyes meeting his.

"Actually though, thank you Odd. I wish I could had made it in time to help you out."

Odd dismissed her apology with a wave of his hand.

"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're safe! Ulrich told me that you were frozen on stage."

Quinn nodded, gripping his arm a little tighter to maintain her balance as they traveled down the stairs.

"I did. Had to take off my heels and run through down the asphalt road away from that shit."

Chuckling, he held the door for her as the exited the residence building, taking the outside path across campus towards the gym.

"It would have been humiliating if your cause of death was pummeling by teddy bear. Good thing the two of them caught you when they did!"

They chuckled together, until Quinn's smile suddenly faltered.

Yumi and Ulrich.

The two of them, unaware of Odd and Quinn on the other side of the campus, laughed and beamed at each other as they entered the gym.

It startled her heart, squeezing the atria and ventricles together painfully.

She shook her head, trying to hide the change in expression with a detour to the vending machine.

"Do you mind if we just grab some water? I don't feel too well…"

Silent for a moment, Odd gave her a small smile and nodded, lowering his raised forearm to let her lead ahead of him. She was stepping a bit faster in her heels, tripping just slightly before reaching the overhang by the vending machine.

She leaned down for the bottle of water, feeling Odd's curious and tender eyes on her back.

"Quinn. What's wrong? You can't hide these things from your pal Odd." He joked.

The brunette was silent. For a moment, she debated avoiding his eyes all together. However, she knew nothing could be hidden from him. Interestingly enough, he had always been the one to be able to read her so clearly.

The moment her sad, crystal blue orbs met his gaze, his eyes widened.

"Holy shit. You really do like Ulrich."

Like an epiphany, it was out of his mouth before it could be processed and filtered.

Quinn merely shook her head and sighed, leaning against the bricks beside Odd. She raised her bottle of water to her lips, letting the liquid quench her anxious thirst before speaking again.

"He wants Yumi. Not me. I decided today to accept that as an inevitability and to not press onward."

Odd was silent, surprising. The only sound between them was the slurping of water from Quinn.

"He's been mad at me for asking you to Prom." Was he next set of words. She scoffed, keeping her glance towards the gym with a disgruntled look. Odd scoffed after, shaking his head with a laugh of disbelief.

"He doesn't know what he wants. I mean, if he wanted to ask you he should have! He shouldn't be getting mad at me for asking. It's not fair for him to. If he's not going to take a beautiful girl like you, I will."

Surprised by his kind words, she shared eye contact with him face-to-face. Recognizing her surprise, he gave her a small smile and nodded reassuringly.

"I mean it, you are beautiful and you are my friend...and as your friend it would be an insult if anyone else took you out."

Her surprised melted away to a look of admiration. She smiled back at him softly.

"Thanks Odd. I'm glad I can talk to you."

"Of course, anytime! I know you'd do the exact same thing for me." He beamed. As she tossed her bottle into the recycling bin, he grasped her by the hand. Quinn tried to hide her surprised blush.

"Enough serious talk! We have a dance to get to!"

He thrusted a fist into the air? Which was soon accompanied by one of her own. They giggled together, Quinn having a new found confidence inside her as she stepped through the doors with her best friend.

After announcing Sissi as the Prom queen, Quinn descended from the stage and from her MC duties. She was now free of responsibilities tonight. The brunette hummed a jolly tune as she approached her date, who was conversing with a pair of girls and an underclassman.

Once she was in eyesight, he beamed at her from over the shoulders of the girls, who turned their heads to see who was behind them. They smiled at her as well, waving as she made her way next to them.

"Hey! Finally free for the night?" Odd chimed, wrapping a friendly arm around her shoulders. She nodded, grinning at her classmates.

"Yup! Glad I didn't vomit through that Prom Queen speech. It should have been expected."

The circle laughed, the three classmates waving their goodbyes as the left to find other friends.

"Sorry I've been away." She tittered, grabbing a cup of punch from their table as they lowered themselves to sit at it. He waved it off.

"No worries, you did a great job of it."

Thanking Odd, she stretched out her arms and legs. As Odd began to retell his count of the Lyoko battle from this past attack, a gentle dulcet tone sounded over the speakers.

Their conversation dropped, as couples around them stood up from their tables and made their way to the dance floor. Odd scratched the back of his neck. He cleared his throat as he extended a hand to her.

"Didja wanna dance, Princess?"

Tittering softly, she took his hand with a smile.

"Of course, my prince."

She forgot that Odd was a fantastic dancer by himself, let alone in pairs. It was almost effortless the way he lead her across the dance floor. But the best parts were always when he would make a little joke or point out something funny in the room.

Closer to the end of the song, she saw his burning glare from across the gym. As Odd rotated her once more, she quickly passed over Ulrich in the crowd with her eyes, and he was glowering.

She frowned, resting her chin back on Odd's shoulder.

"Odd?"

"Hmm?"

"He's glaring."

Silence for a moment, as Odd rotated enough to also catch a quick glare from Ulrich. The brunette male had turned away at this point, talking to Yumi with a disgruntled look.

Odd scoffed, then chuckled.

"I don't get him."

"Me neither."


	2. Log Book

"GET OUT OF THE WAY! IT'S MY TURN!"

A pair of sapphire eyes peered out from underneath a smothering pillow. She could read a ridiculous time of 6:30am from her alarm clock nearby. Grunting and groaning, the brunette flopped on top of her pillow, removing herself from under it to glare angrily at the ceiling.

Only one person would dare wake her up at such an awful time.

As Sissi's screeches disappeared into the distance, Quinn exhaled loudly. She remained under her blankets for another few minutes, before deciding she should try to shower while there was still warm water left. She sat up on her mattress in complete darkness, the only light coming from underneath the door to the hall. She figured she could spare her eyes the pain as she felt for her garments in the dark. Once she was collected and had the courage to poke her head outside, Quinn left the safety of her room with squinted eyes and a gruff look on her face.

There was only a slight line up when she approached the girl's washroom, but still Quinn groaned as she took her place behind Emily. Emily turned her head back to smile at Quinn, readjusting her robe.

"It's actually moving pretty quickly this morning." Her upperclassman smiled at her.

"Thank fucking god." Quinn sighed. She rubbed at her temples with another sigh.

Sissi suddenly emerged from the bathroom with a sneer, as if daring the girls in line to complain. Milly and Tamiya, who were close to the front, made faces at her but said nothing else.

Sissi caught Quinn's figure leaning against the wall as the line up moved, and approached her. Although Quinn remained with her uninterested look, she turned her head to glance at Sissi.

"Where are all your friends, Quinn?"

"Gee, I don't know-they're guys Sissi." she responded bluntly, rolling her eyes at the girl. "You'd think that you'd come up with a better start to an insult. Idiot."

Sissi pursed her lips, and flipped her towel over her shoulder briskly as some of the other girls laughed at her.

"Whatever! Enjoy the _WARM_ water." Sissi retreated down the hall in a huff, returning to her room.

A girl in Quinn's grade sighed behind her, following after her as they were finally able to enter the showers.

"I hate this place." She sighed.

"Me too." Quinn hummed in response.

By the time she was finished in the shower, it was time to eat breakfast with the rest of her residents. Quinn made her way across the campus with a deep yawn, feeling a cool morning breeze against her ankles and lower legs. There were a few students already in the mess hall when she entered, and she easily spotted Jeremie and Odd sitting at their usual table.

She found herself spending a lot more time with the two boys since her revelation over Ulrich's confusion. It was a lot easier to push the brunet out of her mind when she had the banter between Jeremie and Odd to deal with.

Odd did his fair share of distracting her as well, and often the two found themselves playing video games or discussing music until curfew, knowingly ignoring Ulrich's jealous glares from the corner of their eyes.

Not only did she spend time with the two on Earth, but Odd and Quinn had been spending a lot of time on Lyoko too, working out bugs and improvements on their virtual selves with Jeremie and Aelita. It always led to a fulfilled feeling when all of them with exercise their minds and bodies with Lyoko.

She beamed at them, catching Jeremie's attention only due to Odd's gluttonous nature. Jeremie waved back at her with a small smile. Quinn quickly got in the line for provisions, grabbing some scrambled eggs and a few hashbrown patties before sitting down across from her friends.

Odd glanced up when he felt the table shift, grinning at Quinn as he sat up.

"Morning! Did you sleep well?"

Grunting, she shook her head with a grin herself.

"I did until Sissi woke up."

The two boys chuckled, as Odd resting a hand against his stomach.

"Oh yeah, I hear she's a real pain in the ass right in the morning."

Sporking some eggs, she waved the fork at her friends before eating its contents. "You'd think she wouldn't have so much energy in the morning but you're dead wrong."

"It's probably because of all that _beauty sleep_ that she gets." Odd snickered.

Quinn groaned, earning chuckles from the two boys. Speaking of two boys…

The brunette glanced around the table.

"Hey, where's Ulrich?"

Odd shook his head, leaning back in his chair and stretching out.

"He was looking for something when I left...said he'd catch up with me but…"

Jeremie shrugged, getting up from the table with his bag.

"In any case, we have class soon...and you guys have a trip to the pool today right?"

Quinn groaned louder than the first time, placing her head down on the table. Odd snorted, grabbing his own bag as he nudged her to follow them.

"Are you skipping gym class again?" Odd piped up again, walking alongside Quinn as they exited the portable. Jeremie glanced back at them over his shoulder, grinning cheekily.

"Yup! It gives me more time to work on Aelita's materialization!"

Quinn whistled aloud, grinned to her two friends as she hiked her shoulder bag strap farther up her shoulder.

"I can't wait until we can see her here. We can finally be at peace. The faster we get rid of XANA, the better."

Her two friends hummed in agreement, barely audible over the ringing of the first bell. They rested against a tree in the quad, stretching out along the bench as Yumi approached from the distance. The raven-haired girl nodded to Odd and Quinn who were seated on the bench, and walked up to Jeremie with a confused look.

"Hey, where's Ulrich?"

Yumi glazed over all three of her companions, as they shrugged together at the same time. She made a defeated, irritated sigh at them as the three chuckled towards her. As the four of them lounged about and complained about their classes for the day, Odd spotted their missing friend from his upside down position on the bench. He uncurled himself from the comfortable spot and sat up, wide eyed with his arm pointing towards Ulrich.

"Hey, why is he talking to Sissi?"

The other three perked up, Yumi and Jeremie peering around a tree while Quinn poked her head over the back of the bench.

Yumi waved towards the teen, calling out to him. Sissi whispered into Ulrich's ear, her words twisting his face into an irritated expression. His brown eyes shifted to his friends trying to get his attention, but with Sissi forcibly pulling his arm Ulrich followed arm-in-arm with the girl.

The gang blinked owlishly after the scene unfolded.

"...what the hell…" Odd muttered under his breath, shaking his head.

History class was boring, unless you were sitting next to Odd Della Robbia.

Quinn and Odd spent the last few moments drawing on the corner of Quinn's notebook. The two smirked and giggled a bit, only slightly catching the attention of their classmates. Jeremie sat in front of the two, casually glancing over his shoulder when they would try to catch his attention with a hiss.

Odd smiled slightly, finishing the detailing on a dragon he had sketched along the border of Quinn's page. The brunette glanced at her page with a genuine smile, trying to hide the excited blush on her cheeks.

"Ahhhh I love dragons!" she whispered hoarsely, trying to copy down the teacher's lesson on Kings and Queens in history. "Everytime I try to draw them I mess up the legs or the head."

He caught the little blush, and surprisingly he found himself glancing at her cute expression with adoration.

He shook it quickly, adjusting his eyes to a normal glance while pencilling in some more detail into the tail of the dragon. He feinted his serious change as a look of focus. In reality, he was puzzled ever so slightly as to what was going on inside his head.

"...there! You just need to get a bit of practice." He said, smiling at her small sketch on the top of the page. "You're not bad at all."

She caught his glance from the side, smiling back at him before she noticed Jeremie's signal. The two stopped their drawing as Jeremie pointed towards Ulrich and Sissi, who were sitting closely at the front of the class.

"It's really strange." Jeremie commented, noticing how Ulrich tried to shift away from the girl.

Odd and Quinn agreed with a hum, tilting their heads up to glance at the time. The bell was set to ring any minute, meaning if they were going to put a plan into motion it would have to come together fast.

Odd nodded with a look of determination.

"I've got an idea."

As soon as the bell rang, the three were out the door and waiting for their prey.

As soon as Ulrich and Sissi emerged from the classroom, Odd swooped in. He nabbed Sissi and dragged the sucking louse away, leaving Ulrich behind with Quinn and Jeremie.

"You mind explaining?"

Ulrich looked to his side, noticing Jeremie and Quinn standing nearby with curious looks.

Ulrich lead the two behind one of pillars, glancing over his shoulder at Odd's distracting technique before talking with his friends. He was talking fast, almost nervously as he tried to explain his predicament in a timely manner.

"Ah...listen I'm in a jam-big time. You see for years I've been keeping a di…"

Ulrich trailed off, losing the last few words of his sentence to the wind.

"A what?" Quinn asked, visibly straining to hear.

"A diary!" he blurted out, a blush dusting his cheeks. "Sissi found it and...now she's blackmailing me."

Jeremie pondered, index finger under his chin.

"Wait, you wouldn't happen to have mention Lyoko, or XANA in your diary, would you?"

Ulrich scratched the back of his neck, turning his embarrassed expression towards the campus grounds instead of his friend for fear of their angry rebuttal.

"Well...yeah, and if I don't do what Sissi says she's going to tell everyone! I don't know what to do…"

Quinn perked up, patting her friend on the shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry. While we're at the pool I'm sure Jeremie and Yumi can lurk around for it. Sissi's not that bright, it's bound to be somewhere accessible."

The brunet gazed up at her with an appreciative look, earning her smile in return.

"Thanks guys…"

"You best be getting back to your sleeping beauty, she seems to be getting irritated with-"

"FOR THE LAST TIME I DID NOT HAVE A NOSE JOB. SO STOP ASKING-"

Sissi had blurted out, making Quinn slap a hand over her lips as she stifled the loud cackle of laughter building in her larynx. Jeremie chuckled under his breath, looking on as Odd slightly coward underneath Sissi's rageful stance. Ulrich appeared at the thrashing baboon's side, grasping her by the arm,

"Cut it out, Odd. Leave her alone, will ya?"

The two exchanged a look, as if speaking their own language, before Ulrich lead Sissi away towards the school entrance

"Man, that one is just juggling the girls! And they say I'm a flirt." Odd snorted, shaking his head.

"We've got another plan, Odd." Jeremie pointed towards his room in the distance. "Yumi and I can handle this, you guys get going. The bus should be leaving soon."

* * *

The resident gym teacher, humble Jim Morales, stood idly by the electric bus waiting at the front of the school. He was smirking about, exchanging words with the bus driver as students from the 11th Grade began to gather by the vehicle. Ulrich was snared at mistress Delmas' side, a frown more permanent than his usual expression of discontent on his face. He carried both of their bags, grunting in response to all of her inquiries. Odd shook his head beside Quinn, sharing eye contact with her for her to follow as they approached Jim.

Jim grinned at Odd as the two teens approached him.

"A beaut, isn't she Odd?"

"Oh yeah, for sure!" He beamed at Jim, letting Quinn go ahead of him before following. He muttered sarcastically under his breath, earning the girl's chuckle. "Bet this thing is as fast as a snail."

"Electric is the way to the future Odd, one day it'll run you over like this bus."

"Oh haha, you're a regular genius." He smirked at her. She gave him a cheerful smile over her shoulder as she rested herself into the corner of one of the bus seats. He placed his bag above their heads on the luggage shelf before settling in beside her.

Strangely enough, Sissi guided Ulrich to sit in the seat across from Odd and Quinn. The girl sat up straight in her seat, and made a cocky expression in Odd and Quinn's direction. Quinn rolled her eyes, turning her head to face out the bus window instead of the barf fest across the way.

"She's so full of shit." She said through gritted teeth. Odd snorted, crossing his arms and leaning back into the seat.

"I know, right?"

Despite the bus being a brand new, super cool electric hybrid machine, it still had the same familiar school bus smell that all the students could place. Most likely, it was due to the fabric of the seats or the lack of fresh air in the bus, but either way the smell was nostalgic to the good old days of FUN school trips. A few of the other students tried to open their windows, and continued to no avail. They sat down in a huff, fanning themselves but otherwise just mildly irritated.

A few minutes passed before the bus finally pulled off the side of the road. Jim scanned the bus from the front just after finishing his attendance count, eying the students up like a Papa bird. It wasn't long after the bus had left that a commotion begin next to Odd and Quinn. They both turned to see Sissi a bit flustered, holding her cell phone ridiculously close to her ear. There was a wicked smirk on Ulrich's face, as he casually shifted to sit in front of his friends, leaving the seat next to Sissi open for Herb to take. The nerdy boy gave the three Lyoko Warriors a cold stare, turning to Sissi with a comforting tone.

"Well, all's well that ends well." Odd beamed, folding his arms behind his head. Ulrich chuckled in front of them, giving them a thumbs up from the side of the bus seat before facing forward.

"Thank god, that was disgusting. All this over a diary? C'mon…" Quinn huffed, a small smile on her lips. Odd glanced her way, his smirk slowly dissolving to a neutral smile.

"What about you Quinn, do you have a diary?"

The girl was silent, trying to hide the slow embarrassment on her face as she casually glanced out the window. That was all he needed to know before teasing her mercilessly, poking her in a ticklish spot and teasing her.

"Really! You of all people!? No way!"

"Stop it! Hahahaha-stop!"

The two were cut off when Jim passed by them in the aisleway, standing at the wheel with the driver and staring down at the wheel, puzzled. Odd, Ulrich, and Quinn all perked up, watching the situation unfold as Ulrich answered a call from Jeremie.

"X.A.N.A." Quinn breathed, her companions nodding in return. All of a sudden, the bus jolted forward, accelerating at an alarming rate. The students all managed to hold their heads back before they smashed into the seats in front of them. The three of them stood, striding forward to meet the adults at the wheel.

"Hey! You three, sit down!" Jim hollered at them. Ulrich completely ignored the gym teacher, his confidence unwavered as he approached the driver.

"What's wrong with the bus."

"God kid, I wish I knew! It seems to be out of control...it was fine before but now I can't-"

The wheel sparked at the driver, causing the man to flinch.

The three looked at each other, Ulrich nodding as he lifted his phone back to his ear.

"Ulrich?" Jeremie's voice was audible over the speaker.

"Hey, we're in trouble. X.A.N.A's taken over the bus." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Some more murmuring over the phone, as Odd and Quinn exchanged worried glances.

"Someone's gonna need to help Aelita on Lyoko."

The two pondered, before both looking at the bus' door.

"Jump?" Quinn questioned, a worried expression on her face. Odd nodded, shrugging his shoulders.

"It's all we can do, there's no other way."

Ulrich hung up the phone. "Jeremie's gonna check up on it, you guys are gonna jump?"

"Look like it." Quinn hummed, clinging to the bus pole as the bus began to speed up once more.

"Fuck, we gotta go." Ulrich tisked under his breath, chewing on his cheek before responding. "I'll distract them, see if you can pry the door open okay?"

"Right, leave it to me boss." Odd smirked mischievously.

"Good luck." The brunette teen nodded before turning back to Jim and the driver. Odd exchanged a reassuring glance with Quinn before throwing himself at the door. Quinn did her best to assist, hands on the edge of the door as the two tried to pry it open. Slowly an opening appeared, and Odd swiftly jammed himself in between the door. As soon as he had done so, the door whizzed open completely. Quinn stood on the edge, air rushing pass her so fast that she found it hard to breath. Odd stood behind her, a hand on her shoulder.

"Ready?"

"Ye-"

Before she could even turn to respond, she was already on the sidewalk in acute pain. Odd had wrapped his arms around her and thrown them both out of the bus. He curled up enough to protect the both of them, cradling her head against his shoulder now on their position on the ground. She was on top of him, his other arm around her back. He grunted, slowly releasing her as her wide sapphire eyes met his.

"You okay?"

When she recovered, she smacked him in the shoulder as she looked down on him.

"God damn it Odd, tell me before you do that!"

"I guess that means you're alright then, let's get moving." He grinned, releasing her body and helping her off of the ground. Trying to hide her angry blush, she took his hand and bolted down the Washington Street sidewalk towards the factory. As the both glanced back at the bus, they could see the vehicle drastically increase in speed.

"Any longer and we'd be stuck." She hummed, shaking her head to herself. "What is he planning, that bastard…"

* * *

By the time the two teens reached the factory, Jeremie was in sweaty shambles. When the elevator opened to reveal their panting, keeled over forms, Jeremie's head snapped towards them.

"Head on down to the scanners! There's no time!"

"Gotcha Jeremie." Quinn hummed, pressing the massive red button to shut the doors and heading down to the scanners.

They tried to catch their breaths as the entered the scanners. As she rotated around to face the chamber door, she could see Odd rotating as well, facing her. They exchanged smiles before the doors shut, mechanically whirling whizzing by their heads. Hot air lifted Quinn from the chamber, as the data rearranged around her to form her digital body. She could feel her blood go cold, her life suspended as every atom of her body was converted to digital code.

"Virtualization!"

A bright light…

And she gasped for air one last time before awakening in the middle of the desert. She landed without a sound, her talons scraping the sand as she adjusted her stance. Her long ears twitched, as Odd landed lightly beside her. With sharp purple eyes, she scanned the horizon for Aelita as he companion prepared himself.

"Man, I've gotta say, I never get tired of your Lyoko outfit, Quinn." The cat beamed, standing beside her and joining her efforts with a hand on her shoulder. "It's a lot better than my lame outfit."

She scoffed, flapping her feather cape behind her as she bolted forward, her long brown braid fluttering behind her as she sped off on her taloned feet. Odd laughed behind her, clearly following after her.

"I'm sure you treat all the guys that flirt with you like that!" He shouted at her.

She pretended to think before smirking back at him mischievously.

"Odd! Quinn!"

The two spotted Aelita waiting for them, waving at them with a smile. The two waved back, their smiles dropping when they noticed the plateau cracking underneath her. Odd was the first to move, pulling her swiftly back over towards them as the plateau separated.

"Thank you Odd." The Lyoko native smiled gratefully. Odd smiled back, patting her on the back and helping her up.

"Let's go."

They approached the tower, slowly becoming more and more aware of the approaching sandstorm.

"That's the megatank that took out Yumi." Aelita said, a hint of worry in her voice. The two newcomers nodded grimly, as Odd glanced back at the shadow approaching them.

"I have an idea...Quinn, can your jump clear the ridge?"

The girl chuckled.

"Of course, ready?"

Odd grabbed Aelita by the hand and rushed to the ridge, the Megatank close on their heels. Aelita finally clued in to Odd's plan, shaking her head and shouting at them.

"You two are out of your minds!"

"Not really, Princess!" Quinn piped up. As they reached the ridge, Odd began to twirl Aelita around, trying to give her the momentum to cross the ridge. As soon as her threw her across, Quinn's talons caught the edge of the plateau. As she leapt into the air, she extended her arms. Her cape extended with her, acting as her own set of wings to help her glide across the ridge. Odd was close behind them, practically across the ridge as well.

The Megatank hilariously rolled over the ridge and into the digital sea, taking its sandstorm with it. A column of light extended from the sea as it was vapourized, while the three warriors marvelled at their work.

Quinn leaned over to help Aelita up. They all glanced up at the tower, and the older female patted her on the back to push her forward.

"Go save the world, Aelita."

She nodded to her companion, running up the ramp to enter the tower.

As she took care of her business, the two latecomers casually hung around and waited for the return trip.

"...So...this diary…"

"Odd." She warned, trying to hide the playful smirk on her lips. He smirked at her warning tone, sweeping his tail back and forth.

"I can't help it. You're a bird, I'm a cat. We're just a pair made to be in a vicious cycle." He laughed.

"Like cat and mouse?" She played his theory, sitting herself on a large rock and batting her long braid away.

"Exactly! But, cat and bird instead."

Quinn laughed, shaking her head at him. "We'll, I'm harder to catch than a mouse, that's for sure."

Odd's smile faltered ever so slightly, his expression changing to something undecipherable.

"Yeah. But you're worth the chase." Odd nodded, standing from his own rock.

She blinked for a moment, taken aback by his comment.

"Wait...what?"

There was no response, as a white light enveloped the virtual world.

* * *

"GET OUT OF THE WAY! IT'S MY TURN!"

Quinn was rudely awoken once again, her gaze peeking out from underneath her pillow as she spotted the ridiculous time of 6:30AM once more.

"I hate this school." She grunted, rolling onto her back with a heavy sigh.

It took her a moment to collect herself after the return trip, feeling her body more heavy than usual. Her eyes adjusted to the natural lighting. The return was always worse when you're coming from the virtual world.

The virtual world...

That's right...she recalled Odd saying a little something that made her think a little more on her return to the past.

Did he really tell her she was worth the chase?

Maybe...maybe she really should reconsider her options.

A gentle buzz caught her attention, coming from her cellphone on her nightstand. She picked it up, letting the light of her cell phone brighten up the room.

 _Good morning, little birdie :3_

A slow smile crossed her lips.


	3. End of Take

She felt a gentle nudge against her back, familiar in pressure and shape. With a low grunt she pulled her blanket over her head and snuggled herself farther into the thin mattress. There was a quiet sigh from beside her, as the object pressed against her back again.

"Aims, wake up."

Her eyes gently fluttered open, although not completely as she recovered consciousness while examining her surrounding. Directly ahead, a head of bed-ragged blonde hair poked out from underneath a blanket. His bed was actually supported by a frame, and place him slightly above her visual sight line.

Something from behind her flew over her head, knocking the blonde on the head. The boy groaned, and curled up farther into his blankets. The pair of socks that had been through at his head rolled off the bed and onto the floor, forgotten.

Amelia sighed, stretching out her arms and sitting herself up. Another gentle nudge to the side made her glance at the boy sitting up on the side of his bed frame, giving her a weak smile. His foot retracted from her side as he pulled another sock over the foot that remained bare. "Morning."

The brunette rolled her head from shoulder to shoulder before giving a smile in return. "Morning Ulrich!"

A little movement caught her attention as the short haired creature stirred from beside her on the mattress. Kiwi stretched his limbs and nuzzled against the girl, before bounding over to his master and licking his exposed ear.

The blond giggled quietly, growing louder and louder before he had to wrestle the creature off of him. After snatching the dog in his arms, he cooed at him while he held the dog at extended arm length.

"Oh Kiwi, you silly thing you!"

Amelia giggled, kneeling on her mattress and carefully moving to kneel on the ground next to it. She began to fold her blanket with a small smile on her face.

Just another morning after their little sleepovers.

After the three tended to their hygiene and Amelia returned from her own dorm showers, they wrestled a tired Jeremie from his single dorm room. Soon the younger boy was ready for the day and the four made their way to breakfast.

Amelia was the last to sit down from the breakfast cafeteria line, forking her first bite of scrambled eggs as Odd finished his last.

"So I hear they're holding a movie premiere of James Finson's new alien film this afternoon."

Pausing after his bite, Ulrich shared eye contact with her. "Yeah, I heard that too."

Jeremie chewed thoughtfully from beside the brunette before speaking. "It's weird that the principal would do such a thing though. Unless..." He trailed off, spooning another bit of cereal into his mouth.

"I mean unless he's getting paid for the publicity. But I wouldn't see that being the case." Amelia took a sip of orange juice, watching the blond eating machine next to her out of the corner of her eye.

"Y'know, you're gonna get sick if you don't chew properly." She added, earning an amused look from the three boys. The blond just shook his head and smirked.

After the film had finished, the light that came on practically blinded the audience of teens without warning. There was a collective groan, as balled fists came up to rub eyes. Throughout the whole film, the Lyoko Warriors had mixed emotions. Yumi seemed to be disgusted but thoroughly pleased with the film. Ulrich didn't react much, but did wince at a scene or two. Jeremie was completely uninterested and doubtful the entire film, hating all the effects. Odd practically shit his pants, but clung onto Amelia with a forced look of fearlessness for most of the film, since she nuzzled herself into his shoulder often when she would be frightened.

Ulrich tried to brush off his gritted teeth throughout the film.

Were it not for the fact that Yumi sat between him and Amelia, he might have been her hero…

At yet...he felt guilt. What the hell was he thinking?

Totally, ridiculous." Jeremie haughtily scoffed, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Wow, that was great!" Ulrich hummed, leaning back in his chair and resting his arms behind his head. Odd blandly explained how the movie was just "alright" and needed "more effects".

"But you were shitting your pants the whole time." Amelia added cheekily, earning chuckles from her friends.

Yumi quipped towards the teen as well, cut off shortly by the appearance of their school principal on the stage. Principal Delmas blabbered on, finally introducing James Finson to the stage. Amelia and Odd exchanged rounds of "I told you so" to other students in the crowd.

Jeremie's brow furrowed when the rugged looking director mentioned his interest in looking at the abandoned factory close to campus.

 _Their_ factory.

"He better not mean our factory!" He hissed to his friends. They glanced at him, worried and slightly irritated.

I guess it's time to create an elaborate diversion.

After the movie the Warriors headed to the lunch portable, aware of the huge line up just outside the building.

"Looks like I'm gonna skip on shitty high school lunch today." Amelia stretched out her arms behind her head before patting Ulrich on the back. "It's your turn for diversions, anyway."

Ulrich shrugged off her hand with an amused smirk.

"What about you guys, you gonna head back?" Amelia asked, heaving her bag up her shoulder slightly. Jeremie shook his head at her.

"No way, I'm gonna wait and see what our pal Ulrich had in mind. Not going to pass that up." Jeremie snorted, earning Yumi and Odd's chuckles as well as the brunette girl. Ulrich simply waved them off.

"Yeah yeah-"

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to be the niece of James Parker, would you?"

Amelia perked up at the sound of her uncle's name coming from behind her, turning around to see the burly James Finson standing behind her.

"Uh...yes, that's my uncle." she responded lamely, returning the vigorous handshake he gave her.

"I love your uncle's work, and I'm a huuuuuge fan of your stunt work!" Finson gushed, causing the stirring if students around them.

Speechless, Amelia simply smiled and thanked him, only to feel Ulrich wrap an arm around her shoulder.

"Actually, Mr. Finson, we were just coming to talk to you about a proposition about your upcoming film! You see...Ms. Parker and I have a certain knowledge about that there factory! And-"

The director stopped him before Ulrich could continue. "Of course! Anything to work with James' niece! You know, we go way back to high school!"

Odd leaned over to Yumi and Jeremie amongst the commotion.

"What a brown noser. I bet he just wants in with Amy's uncle."

The two hummed in agreement.

As Ulrich continued to schmooze with Finson, the two wandered away to the main office building in step, no doubt to deal with the scheduling issues the movie set provided with school.

Amelia stood alone, completely thrown aback as her friends approached her.

"Well...uh. I guess I'm stunting again?"

Her three friends beamed at her, giving her all kinds of congratulations.

"You're gonna be in a movie! Not one of your uncle's, but still!"

"Yeah, and both you and Ulrich can keep them from sniffing about the factory!"

She nodded, finally catching up to the current events.

Yumi waved at the three others.

"Welp, since classes are done early, I'm gonna head on home for lunch."

"Bye Yumi!" the group responded almost in unison, as they retreated to the Jeremie's evil lair in wait of Ulrich's Secret Plan: Part Two.

"Sissi did WHAT?"

Ulrich scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, hiking his shoulder bag up his shoulder as he stood in the doorway of Jeremie's dorm. Jeremie, Amelia, and Odd were waiting for the boy to return from his trip to see the principal. The group had already observed the failed plan to get Finson away from the factory, so they had been hoping for good news. Instead…

"Well. I'm sure the three of you will have fun...in the same tent. No predatory tension with Sissi there." Odd smirked from beside Amelia on Jeremie's bed. Amelia shook her head with a sigh, grabbing her gym bag from the floor as she prepared to head to the factory for the film orientation.

Jeremie pushed his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose.

"Just don't forget the mission, you guys. No one can find out about the super computer."

Ulrich gave Jeremie a side smirk, saluting his leader.

"No worries, Einstein. I'm sure we can handle Sissi, between the two of us."

Odd chuckled suggestively, earning an amused smirk from Amelia and a disgusted look from Jeremie.

"Anyway," Amelia stood in the doorway next to Ulrich. "Wish us luck! Keep us posted."

The two were seen off by Odd and Jeremie. Ulrich and Amelia progressed to the female floor of the dorm, where their good pal Sissi would be waiting for them.

Amelia grumbled under her breath as they spotted the primpy girl at the end of the hallway.

"This blows. She's gonna be such a brat."

Ulrich chuckled, whispered back to her hastily before they were in Sissi's ear shot.

"Play nice, she got both of us out of school for this. Make sure you wear headphones all night, though."

Amelia rolled her eyes, the pair of them giggling silently. The two stood in front of Sissi, with her many bags at her feet.

"Good morning, Ulrich." Sissi batted her lashes at the boy, as he already started his way towards the staircase downwards. The girl failed to even mention Amelia's presence. Amelia shook her head with a chuckle.

"Well, good morning Sissi!" Amelia clapped the girl on the back. Sissi tried to hide the irritated look on her face. "It's so nice to see you."

With a 'humph', Sissi took off after Ulrich, reaching to link arms with the boy. He didn't protest, but simply ignored her. Amelia followed suite, so incredibly eager to listen to Sissi's gushing about Ulrich all freaking day.

But hey, maybe it'll really help push away her own feelings for Ulrich?

Since last month, when Sissi had stolen Ulrich's diary and X.A.N.A had decided to attack, Amelia and Odd had started to spend a bit more time together on their own. Sometimes, it even bordered as secret meetings. Friendly ones, simply friends being friendly.

Yet she was way smarter than that. At least, to her own feelings, she knew that she was starting to develop feelings for the blond. What his opinion was, she had yet to find out. But since their meetings remained secret, she was suspicious of his own feelings towards her.

He was her best friend, and he did well to give her advice over Ulrich. However, she decided that the time for advice was over. The last thing she wanted was to be fawning and whining over a guy to a possible 'more than friends' guy. That wasn't attractive in the slightest, she concluded.

Amelia nodded absentmindedly to herself, determined. When she finally registered where they had walked, she already spotted the bridge to the factory just a few meters ahead. One of Finson's lackeys, they assumed, met them at the wide entrance to the factory. The woman quickly confiscated their cell phones-much to their discontent. On top of that...how was Amelia going to drown out Sissi's snoring?

Amelia groaned miserably to herself under her breath. She trudged begrudgingly after her classmates to meet the rest of the team in the factory. Finson's crew members were running around the factory in groups, carefully avoiding all the tents that had been set up for their camp-out.

"So, we're stuck here?" Ulrich swallowed hesitantly.

"That mean lady made it quite clear, yeah." Amelia furrowed her brow as she exchanged a worried look with Ulrich. Sissi was too busy having a meltdown about her nightly routine to notice the two.

"We can contact Jeremie from the factory, but we'll have to sneak in at night." Ulrich whispered, carefully keeping out of earshot of the crew and Sissi. Amelia agreed with a hum, placing her gym bag on the ground next to their tent with a thump.

"Until then, we lay low."

As night time crept up on the film set, Ulrich and Amelia were quick to sneak away from the group to delve deeper into the factory. With some shoulder and corner checks, they arrived safely to the supercomputer. They had been quiet the whole time of course, avoiding detection. Yet the quiet between them soon became awkward. Amelia pretended to be interested in the Lyoko map, even though she had memorized the divots and hills months ago. Ulrich was seated in the power seat, looking out of place in Jeremie's throne.

As he dialed Jeremie's number on the super computer, he caught Amy's gaze accidentally. They shared the awkward eye contact.

"Amy…" Ulrich started, interrupted shortly after by Jeremie's voice.

The brunette boy snapped his gaze back to the supercomputer, adjusting the headset in his ear.

"Jeremie, Amy and I are here at your computer...yeah, things are going fine. No one suspects a thing-"

"Ah-HA!"

The shrill voice caused both Lyoko warriors to jump. A familiar pain in the ass appeared at the top of the ascending ladder. At the sight of Sissi, the two friends groaned aloud.

"Sissi, what the hell?" Amy sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Sissi scoffed hautly, pointing an accusing finger at Amy.

"Well I saw my darling Ulrich sneak off into the night with THIS HARPY, I had to act!"

Ulrich placed the earpiece on the keyboard, ignoring the yammering from Jeremie in the other side. He moved to usher Sissi into the elevator, much to her protest.

Amy chuckled, shaking her head at the sheer stubbornness of the girl while trying to come up with an excuse for the supercomputer's existence that the preppy girl would accept. She found it hard to think over Sissi's protests, but also difficult to concentrate over the odd scrabbling sound coming from above them.

She spotted a scrap piece of metal pipe laying on the ground, likely from one of Jeremie's last run ins with Xana. Amy crouched down slowly to grab it, shushing Sissi with enough urgency that the queen bee went silent without the last word. Ulrich glanced curiously at her, until he too noticed the scrabbling, getting louder and louder.

And before they could all process it, the creature was upon them. It burst from the overhead opening of the ascending ladder in a flash, a flurry of green rushing towards them. Sissi let out a scream, backing into the open elevator willingly. Amy took a swing with the metal pipe as Finson's alien swung his tail at her and Ulrich. Her strike landed against its shoulder, displacing the creature a few paces away. It squealed in protest, shaking its head as it regained composure once more.

"Run!" she barked, joining Sissi in to the elevator. Ulrich was already on the button to close the door, the three gasping apprehensively as the possessed alien rushed toward them again. It slammed into the closed door, shaking the entire cabin as the elevator jolted to life. The elevator pulled them up and away from the supercomputer, Amy and Ulrich attempting to catch their breath.

"W-What was that?!" Sissi screeched, still shaking. Ulrich and Amy share a knowing look, standing up right.

"It doesn't matter. We need to get out of here-"

The whole cabin shuttered once more, and came to a stop. The lights inside flickered on and off. A terrified whimper came from Sissi in the corner of the cabin. Amy raised the pipe in her hands defensively, her eyes darting between Ulrich's concerned gaze and various surfaces of the cabin. Where would Xana strike next?

The alien's hand ripped through the elevator's floor, reaching out to grab anything that it could latch onto. Amy swung the pipe down, striking the hand with her first swing. The second swing proved to be mut, as the alien grasped onto the pipe and crunched it between its grasp. It fell to the floor, a piece of utterly useless, crushed metal.

"Shit!" the burnette cursed, lunging away from the alien's hand. Ulrich reached up for the cabin's emergency hatch, narrowly avoiding the alien's fingers. Sissi screeched in their ears, clinging onto Ulrich at any chance she could get.

"Sissi! Listen, you need to head up there, okay?" He turned to girl, who was shaking in her boots. She had puppy dog eyes trained on him, not moving a muscle. Amy reached upward, her height just falling short of being able to lift herself up. Ulrich came up behind her, grasping her by the waist.

"I've got you, head up first. We can help her up." he continued hastily, not noticing the uncomfortable blush on the girl's face. With Ulrich's help, Amy pulled herself on to the top of the cabin, reaching her hand out to assist Sissi. Sissi seemed more comfortable now, joining Amelia on top of the cabin. The brunette ushered her over to the opening to the factory floor beside them, returning just in time to pull Ulrich from the cabin before the alien could burst through.

The three bolted through the factory floor, the alien hot on their tails. Ulrich tried to slow the alien down by tossing some of the abandoned factory scrap to the ground. It showed to be futile, as the possessed prop vaulted over Ulrich's attempts in one bound.

Xana had chased them to the sewers, practically breathing down their necks. It caught up to them, swiping the ground with its tail and tripping them. The three attempted to stand, Sissi the most fearful of the three. They backed away from the monster, as it gurgled and hissed toward them.

"Ulrich!"

The boy turned to Amy, who had called out to him. Her gaze was toward the water, and he instantly caught on. As he moved to strike, he was surprised to see Amy barrelling toward the monster, ready to tackle it into the sewer canal.

"You guys, get out of here and warn Jeremie!"

Xana was quicker than her. As Ulrich and Sissi moved to run the other way, Xana caught Amy with a webbed hand, and threw her against the concrete wall in one swift move. Amy hit the wall with a dull thud, and landed on the floor in a heap. She was suddenly motionless.

"Amelia!" Ulrich cried out. He was unable to stop to help his friend, as Xana's creature turned its attention to him and Sissi once more.

"Damn it! Sissi, let's go!"

With a pang of regret, Ulrich pulled Sissi in another direction. The thrill of the chase fueled Xana's fire, and the alien cackled as it careened after the other two teens. It left Amy in her unconscious state on the cold, hard ground.

When Amelia finally realized where she was, she had collapsed into a pair of warm arms. The ringing in her ears cleared, quickly replaced by a sharp pain in her head. The brunette cried out, gripping onto the shirt of whoever was holding her up.

A third hand gently grasped her shoulder as she recognized Jeremie's concerned voice.

"Odd, we're almost there. Put her down by the map."

Her vision cleared, and she could see the purple of Odd's t-shirt scrunched up in her grasp. The supercomputer room materialized around her, and her now aware gaze met Odd's concerned hazel eyes.

"I've got you Aims, it's alright."

The sharp pain dulled, remaining at the back of her head. Odd lowered her down to the ground, kneeling at her side as she supported herself against the ridge of the virtual map's pit. Odd still had one arm around her waist as she slowly regained her inhibitions.

"Holy shit. What happened?"

"X.A.N.A. Do you think you can stand?"

The pain was slowly subsiding, and she found herself able to stand on her own after a moment or two. Jeremie could be heard tapping away at the super calculator, likely coding in the transfer process for Odd.

"You must have been on pure adrenaline. You stumbled up to us as we got here. Not sure how long you were like that." He piped up, not taking his eyes off of the monitor. Odd was still holding his hands out, waiting to catch her if she decided to buckle again.

"All I remember was running away from an Alien prototype possessed by X.A.N.A. Not much else."

Odd nodded sharply to her, lowering his hands to his side. "Yumi went looking for you and Ulrich. I'm sure she'll run into the bugger at some point."

Amelia tested out her coordination and was happy with the results, able to amble around the room without any further complications. She turned to Jeremie once she felt confident in her mobility.

"Put me in, coach."

The younger boy hesitated, darting his eyes between Odd and the girl.

"I will, but only if you're sure you're feeling alright."

Giving her head a shake, Amelia winced slightly and raised a hand to the back of her head, but she still nodded towards Jeremie.

"I'm good, just a little roughed up. I can manage, I promise. And if it gets to rough, I'll come back. No worries." Amelia motioned to Odd with a lazy wave. "Odd will be there."

Odd cleared his throat at the mention of his name, placing a confident hand on her shoulder and beaming at Jeremie.

"We got this Einstein, ready the scanners!"

Jeremie gave the two a stern look, but waved them off to the elevator as he popped his earpiece into his ear.

"Aelita? Aelita! Odd and Amy are on their way."

The two entered the elevator down, Odd pressing the large button to close the doors. Once the doors were closed, he glanced over his shoulder at Amy and smiled reassuringly at her.

"Let me know if you're not feeling well, okay? Don't push yourself."

Amy was caught off guard, and caught her blush slowly creeping up her neck. She shot him back an appreciative smile. She wasn't use to everyone worrying about her like this, and especially wasn't sure of the weird feelings she was starting to develop for Odd...and how cute he was being protective of her.

With as much dignity as she could, she turned her nose in a different direction to stop ogling the lean muscles in his back, stepping up to the scanner and waiting for Jeremie to begin the process.

When they two warriors landed, they were met with a cool breeze as their feet scrabbled against the ice. The Ice Sector greeted them, and soon Aelita followed, catching up to their position from a long path of ice behind them, surrounded by the digital sea. Aelita waved urgently to them, pausing in front of them to catch her breath.

Amy turned her head, examining the path before them as she scanned her head from left to right. Here in the virtual world, her head felt 10 times better than it did in the real world. That alien really did a number on her. In front of the three was another long straight path of ice and water, hopefully leading to a wider area in case X.A.N.A decided to rear its ugly head.

"Alright Aelita, let's get moving." Amy said, Odd humming in agreement as the three took off in the direction Aelita felt the pulsations. As they trudged on, Jeremie's voice called out to them.

"Hornets on the way guys, watch out!"

No sooner than he said that, five Hornets caught up to them, their wings flapping even louder as they grouped up behind them. Odd cursed under his breath, narrowly avoiding the cluster of lasers they fired at their heels. They weren't far from the main land of the Ice Sector now, and Amy smirked to herself as she readied for her attack.

She let her two friends overtake her, catching Odd's concerned look over his shoulder. She gave him a wink, materializing some of her razor sharp feathers in her hands. She threaded the feathers between her fingers, and in one quick movement she rotated on one taloned foot, lifting herself into the air and tossing the feathers at the Hornets. Three of the Hornets were struck by her feathers, wobbling and exploding into the digital sea.

"Nice!" Odd whistled, following after Aelita as they climbed up the few platforms to the larger part of the region. The other two Hornets buzzed behind them, hot on their trail.

"We have to shake them!" Aelita cried out, another battery of lasers catching Odd and Amy by the arms.

"You guys are losing life points too quickly!" Jeremie called out to them.

"Let's try to lose them in the tunnels!" Odd shouted, just as the tunnels came into sight.

"Wait, I haven't had the chance to see where they end up...Od-!"

The blond had already guided his friends to the tunnels, and the three we sliding down various icy tunnels. Odd seemed to be having the time of his life, surfing down the tunnel with grace. Aelita and Amy were less graceful, as Amy struggled to slide with the talons on her feet and Aelita fell on her hind end. The Hornets were long gone by then, and the exploding echoed off the walls in the distance, likely the monsters meeting their end against some stalactites. As the end came in sight, the three widened their eyes, and were promptly thrown from the tunnel and fell 10 feet to the hard ground.

After poising themselves once more, the three warriors picked themselves up, only to gawk incredulously at the sight in front of them.

"Umm...Jeremie? There are two towers."

"...what? I only see one on my end…"

"This is bad news…" Amy clicked her tongue, slowly walking towards the two activated towers. Her friends followed, Aelita stressing the importance of picking the right tower to deactivate. The consequences could be dire. As they stood and hummed over the towers, Amelia's long ears twitched. Something was buzzing nearby, and while Jeremie and Aelita were debating the correct tower hastily, Amy kept her ears trained on that sound. She heard the lasers charging up, and suddenly reached her arm out to cover Odd with a swipe of her cape. The laser was absorbed by her cape, but the sound has Odd and Amy on high alert again.

"Aelita, we've got your back, but you've got to decide quickly!" The older girl called out, sharing a nod with Odd and splitting up to deal with the threats.

Odd and Amy exchanged shots with the Hornets. Amelia was so focused in her exchange with one of the Hornets, that she didn't hear Odd's warning. She found herself on the floor before she could realize it, staring up in shock at Odd's relieved expression. He released a sigh, and smiled softly down at her before standing awkwardly from his straddled position over her. He cleared his throat, motioning toward Aelita with his head to avoid the awkward situation. The brunette glanced over from her spot on the floor, seeing that Aelita had chosen one of the towers. She crossed her fingers in her mind, holding her breath until she felt the familiar feeling of the return program running.


End file.
